Article with removable ornament that also serves as a fastener

ABSTRACT

An article of jewelry comprising a base member adapted to removably receive an ornamental member whereby different ornamental members may be selectively utilized with the same jewelry article, the ornamental member having a threaded stud and the base member having a threaded aperture for threadedly receiving said stud.

United States Patent Sitt [ Mar. 7,1972

[54] ARTICLE WITH REMOVABLE ORNAMENT THAT ALSO SERVES AS A FASTENER [72] Inventor: Eddie Sitt, 20 West 37th Street, Brooklyn,

[22] Filed: Apr. 27, 1970 [21] App1.No.: 31,908

[52] U.S. CL ..24/97, 24/49 A, 24/49 P [51] Int. Cl. A441) l/18 [58] Field of Search ..63/29; 24/90 A, 102 PL, 97

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 960,647 6/1910 Kahn ..63/29 R 1,620,252 3/1927 Fischer....

3,080,630 3/1963 Paliotta ...24/97 3,144,692 8/1964 Espino..

3,538,556 11/1970 Shein ..24/97 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 453,976 9/1936 Great Britain ..63/29 R Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay AtmmeySalter & Michaelson [57] ABSTRACT 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAR 7 I972 "3. 646, 642

Inventor, Eddie Sitt,

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ARTICLE WITH REMOVABLE ORNAMENT THAT ALSO SERVES AS A FASTENER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION One of the problems that has long existed is that certain articles of jewelry, because of the particular color scheme that may dominant the ornamentation thereof, may be worn only with certain articles of apparel, due to the color scheme of the latter. This is becoming an increasing problem insofar as mens jewelry is concerned, such as cuff links, tie tacks, and tie clips, because of the substantial emphasis that presently exists in making mens clothing, such as shirts, for example, in bright colors. Thus, cuff links characterized by a certain colored stone may be worn only with certain colored shirts, and the same problem exists insofar as tie tacks and tie clips are concerned.

Attempts have have been made to make jewelry, whether it be men's or womens jewelry, more versatile by permitting interchanging of ornaments in a given article of jewelry. This has largely been accomplished, however, by means of magnetic means or snap receiving means for removably mounting the ornament, which means have generally proven to be ineffective in that the ornament may and frequently does become loose while being worn, thus crating the likelihood of the ornament actually becoming inadvertently detached during use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an article of jewelry permitting interchangeability of ornaments in a simple yet effective manner. The means for removably mounting the ornamental member on the article of jewelry are such that, when mounted, the ornament is maintained securely in position, and the possibility of inadvertent detachment is virtually negligible. At the same time, the ornament may be easily and quickly removed when it is desired to interchange a different ornament for color coordination purposes.

Specifically, the combination which characterizes the instant invention comprises an ornament having a threaded stud extending rearwardly therefrom and the article of jewelry having a base member having a threaded aperture therein for threadedly receiving the aforesaid stud. By tightly threading the ornamental member into the base member, virtually no likelihood of inadvertent detachment between the parts exists; and by making the threaded stud of a length substantially equal to the thickness of the member which threadedly receives the stud, the ornamental member is securely mounted, and the stud does not protrude, thus resulting in a more pleasing appearance, and, at the same time, eliminating any possible dangers that might exist by having the end of the stud protrude.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:

FIG. I is a side elevational view of a cuff link embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing a tie tack embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view, partly in section, of a tie clip embodying my invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown generally at 10 a cuff link embodying the present invention. The cuff link I comprises a base member I2 having a front surface 14 and a rear surface 16. The member I2 may be of any desired ornamental con figuration and may be constructed of any suitable structural material, although preferably of metallic construction. Also, the front surface 14 may be ornamented, if desired, to enhance the ornamental appeal of the article I0.

Secured to the rear surface 16 of the member 12 is a yoke member 18 of generally U-shaped configuration, as seen most clearly in FIG. 2, said member comprising a pair of spaced legs 20 having an interconnecting bight portion 22. At its open end, the yoke member 18 pivotally receives a beam 24, said beam being swingable about its pivot 26 so as to extend perpendicularly with respect to legs 20, as shown in FIG. 1, and a position wherein the longitudinal axis of beam 24 is in alignment with the legs 20, all in a manner well known in the art.

The bight portion 22 of yoke member 18 is secured to rear surface 16 of the base member 12 by any suitable means, such as by soldering, as shown at 28. A threaded aperture 30 is provided in base member 12, and an aligned threaded aperture 32 is provided in bight portion 22, as shown most clearly in FIG. 2. An ornamental member 34, which may be a colored stone, bead, or the like, or any other desired ornamental configuration, is provided with a rearwardly extending threaded stud 36, which stud is threadedly received by the apertures 30 and 32 so as to tightly mount and position the ornamental member 34 closely adjacent to front surface 14. It will be noted that the length of stud 36 is substantially equal to the combined thicknesses of base member 12 and bight portion 22, whereupon the free end 38 of stud 36 is located in substantially the same plane as the inner surface of bight portion 22. Thus, stud 36 does not protrude through said bight portion; but, at the same time, since the stud 36 is engaging both the member 12 and the member 22, it follows that stud 36, in addition to mounting the ornamental member 34, also functions to enhance the securement between yoke 18 and base member 12. When it is desired to remove the ornamental member 34 and replace it with a different ornamental member, it will be understood that all one has to do is to threadedly detach the member 34 so as to disassemble it from the article of jewelry and then threadedly attach a different ornamental member.

In FIG. 3 the invention is shown in combination with a tie tack 40, it being understood that the base member 42 functions in a similar manner to the base member 12 described above. Specifically, a threaded aperture 44 is provided in base member 42 and threadedly receives the threaded stud 46 carried by ornamental member 48, whereby the latter is removably mounted in close proximity to the front surface of base member 42. Again the length of stud 46 is substantially equal to the thickness of member 42 so that the free end 50 of said stud is in substantially the same plane as the rear surface of the member 42.

The tie tack 40 has secured to the rear surface of base member 42 a rearwardly extending pin 52 adapted to cooperate with a clutch back assembly 54 of conventional construction in a manner well known in the art. Since, however, it is desired to centrally mount the ornamental member 40 with respect to base member 42, it is necessary to eccentrically mount pin 52 to the rear surface of base member 42, as shown in FIG. 3. This eccentric mounting of the pin 52 in no way interferes with or detracts from the efficiency of the overall assembly 40.

In FIG. 4 the present invention is shown in combination with a tie clip 56 comprising a conventional spring clip mechanism 58 which cooperates with a base plate 60 in a conventional and well-known manner. Here again, the base plate 60 is provided with a threaded aperture 62 which threadedly receives stud 64 carried by ornamental member 66 to permit secure but detachable assembly of the ornamental member to the tie clip. Note that once again the length of stud 64 is substantially equal to the thickness of member 60 so that the free end 68 of said stud terminates insubstantially the same plane as the inner surface of the member 60. This relationship is particularly important in the assemblies shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, since if the threaded stud protruded beyond the rear or inner surface of the base member, it might cause inadvertent damage to the necktie with which the tie tack or tie clip is being worn.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangestantially U-shaped member permanently secured to the rear surface of said base member, said U-shaped member supporting the remainder of the cuft'link, said U-shaped member having its bight portion in engagement with said rear surface, and said threaded aperture and stud extending through said base member and said bight portion, whereby said threaded stud functions not only to mount said ornamental member, but also to help secure said U-shaped member to said base member.

2. In the article ofjewelry of claim 1, the length of said stud being substantially equal to the combined thickness of said base member and said bight portion.

l i i 

1. An article of jewelry comprising a base member for supporting an ornamental member thereon, said base member having a threaded aperture therein, said ornamental member having a threaded stud extending therefrom and threadedly received within said aperture, whereby said ornamental member is securely but removably attached to said base member, said article of jewelry comprising a cuff link, a substantially U-shaped member permanently secured to the rear surface of said base member, said U-shaped member supporting the remainder of the cuff link, said U-shaped member having its bight portion in engagement with said rear surface, and said threaded aperture and stud extending through said base member and said bight portion, whereby said threaded stud functions not only to mount said ornamental member, but also to help secure said Ushaped member to said base member.
 2. In the article of jewelry of claim 1, the length of said stud being substantially equal to the combined thickness of said base member and said bight portion. 